The Health Minister has thanked GPs for progress made in tackling
the 8am bottleneck and making it easier for people to get
appointments.
But the Minister said more needs to be done to ensure everyone in
Wales can expect the same service, and called on the public to
help by reducing some of the 80,000 missed appointments every
month.
95% of practices across Wales have said they are now providing a
mix of remote, face to face, urgent and pre-bookable
appointments, and that people can contact their practice
throughout the day to make an appointment.
These practices have also said they have now trained staff to
direct people to the care that is right for them – to other
services, like pharmacies or opticians, where appropriate, or to
offer an appointment the same day or in the future if less
urgent.
To build on this work, practices will collect and take action on
patient feedback to ensure they can continue to improve access
for the communities they serve.
As part of the new contract with GPs that comes into force this
month, other practices are working towards implementing changes
to make getting an appointment easier.
The Health Minister has also encouraged the public to think about
how they can help improve access to GPs by attending all
appointments or cancelling appointments if they are no longer
needed to free up appointments for other people.
Data from the past year shows that on average around 80,000
people across Wales do not attend their appointments each month.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan said:
“GPs and their staff have worked tirelessly in the face of
ongoing pressure, and I thank them for their commitment to
improving access.
“Patients should be able to contact their GP practice throughout
the day to book an appointment, avoiding the ‘8am bottleneck’
that causes frustration to many. The majority of practices have
already started doing this and others are working to put new
processes in place to achieve this.
“GPs are the first step in someone’s health care journey, and it
is vital everyone can be seen, triaged, treated or referred on a
more appropriate service as quickly and efficiently as possible.
However, we all have a role to play in improving the service,
there are around 80,000 missed appointments a month. If people
don’t re-arrange appointments, they are costing other people the
opportunity to see their GP, which can have a knock-on effect on
other parts of the NHS. I encourage everyone to attend their
appointments or re-arrange as soon as possible if they can’t
attend, so that everyone who needs to see a GP can be seen.”
